Liz and I had previous plans to get together and do something
that Friday night, but it suddenly all seemed a bust. Going out, bleah. Wine…eh, there are days that you just
don’t dare, you know?
I suddenly had a brilliant idea. I told her to grab her tennis
shoes and meet me at my house immediately after work, and I’d drag her to Heron County Wetlands Boardwalk at Lake Vermilion. A peaceful walk around a floating boardwalk, checking out waterfowl
and bobbing blossoms. I took my Aunt there
this summer, and look:
A perfect place to breathe deep, and clear one's head, yes? Oh, how I tauted it, promising her sanctuary! We were headed towards calmness, and bliss.
Unbeknownst to me, however, in the 4 months since I'd been there, the lake had dried up.
It was...just...beautiful.
Thank God Liz still had a sense of humor about her. Our path, despite its grim view, was still peaceful, and in the end, did have its redeeming values.
We left the Wetlands, and wandered over to a few fishing docks on Lake Vermillion, before heading back and ordering pizza on the way home.
Sometimes we just need to take a deep breath; to shake off our reality for a half an hour or so, before we get back about tending to it. We've also all had those days where we don't have the luxury to take that break before we're forced to forge ahead.
Speaking from experience, it is so much better when a friend konks you in the head, and drags you by the hair, and makes you take that break. I have been the recipient of much konking and dragging, thank you very much.
I was just paying it forward...by...taking my friend to see acres and acres of dead lily pads.
That's how I roll.
In my family, it's known as "coming into the parlor" (long story), this konking and hair pulling. So many people say "anything I can do, let me know" ~ but when you're up to your eyes in it, that's often hard. It's the people who konk and hair pull and come into the parlor and, yes, take you to see dead lilies, that truly make the difference.
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